1993 Escort LX Won't Start

[quaddriver]

on the fuel rail there is a 'schrader valve' (looks like one of those things you fill a tire with), here you hook up a fuel injection gauge (designed not to blow up when subjected to 50-100 psi of gas - an important feature), then you turn the key on, the fuel pump primes and you read the static fuel pressure.

[nditech]

To get your timing cover off isn’t as bad as it sounds. Use a floor jack with a piece of wood on it and jack on the oil pan just till you see the motor move. Then remove your motor mount. Remove the two nuts and you might have to pry a little to get by your tensioner. That is going to be the only way for you to check the timing to see if it right. Even if you try a light you will have to remove the cover since the tab in under the cover on the escort.

[quaddriver]

Im of the opinion that you should REALLY check fuel pressure before you start unbolting stuff.

[Jet-Lee]

you dont have to unbolt anything, 'cept your timing belt cover. Muscle it out, then check your marks. Muscle it back in and bolt it back on. Takes bout a half hour. I did a complete timing belt change in an hour, didn't have to touch the motor mounts. Pulled the right side of the car up on the curb and went to work. Not as hard as people make it out to be.

[Arnoldtheskier]

You don't really need the specific timing tab on an engine/ALl you need is a reference point/relative.You can indeed use/make your own wire/bracket use another cylinder another spot to make the reference and figger this out.Remember those timing lights that were called knucke dusters or something..REALLY short almost no snout..so you could get the thing TOO close to moving blades,pulley's,belts..If you simply used a different mark,cylinder for your reference it was the same.I'm SURE you can find a picture if ROUGHLY where the tab/mark is...even if it is hidden..or missing.lol..OR the rubber ring on the dampner has slipped..lol..LOL..then ya got a fairly good idea of where you can fire.

I did this cam timing thing on an engine that was NASTY to get the cover off before.Found the valve timing specs.Pulled a plug found tdc..marked the dampner..filled the cylinder with alcohol..it SOON becomes pretty obvious at what point both valves are CLOSED and the cylinder is full.Then you can backtrack and figger out when the valves are opening..you can also do this by pulling a valve cover but sometimes some engines that can be NASTY.

I'ldno..perhaps there is some way of accessing the cam position sensor/circuit on this engine to tell you where it is in relation to the crank(cam timing)

Do a compression test and an engine vacuum test.

[ILSteve]

Well, as I'm reading all of the suggestions, I'm thinking the first step at this point would be to check the fuel pressure... I know exactly where you are talking about and wondered what that was for... If all looks good there, then it seems the next step is going back to the timing belt and do a better check of it.

Thank you for all of the suggestions. I will post back with what it turns out to be.

[mustang302]

Just in case...

You keep mentioning in your replies that the starter just 'spins its stuff' and such... Are you sure the starter is engaging and not just spinning its own motor? Are the belts being spun when you crank the starter, indicating that the motor is turning over?

Just a thought from the way your description of the problem sounds...

Additionally I'd still check battery voltage, even if others say that can't be it. All the ECUs and such that control fuel injection and ignition can be sensitive to proper voltage. Sure the starter cranks, but while it's cranking it is drawing a lot of electricity, perhaps not making enough available for computers to do their thing. Just because it has enough guts to crank the starter doesn't necessarily mean it's in good shape.

[ILSteve]

Originally Posted by mustang302

Just in case...

You keep mentioning in your replies that the starter just 'spins its stuff' and such... Are you sure the starter is engaging and not just spinning its own motor? Are the belts being spun when you crank the starter, indicating that the motor is turning over?

Just a thought from the way your description of the problem sounds...

Additionally I'd still check battery voltage, even if others say that can't be it. All the ECUs and such that control fuel injection and ignition can be sensitive to proper voltage. Sure the starter cranks, but while it's cranking it is drawing a lot of electricity, perhaps not making enough available for computers to do their thing. Just because it has enough guts to crank the starter doesn't necessarily mean it's in good shape.

One of the things we did was to take off the timing belt cover to see if it was intact and spinning... which it was.

The battery in the vehicle is nearly new, so I've pretty much assumed it is not that. I tested the electrical pulse on the fuel injector and was getting some movement on the ohm meter... could not find anything that said how many ohms it should be indicating as the injector functioned, but I was guessing not much...

To me, it seems like there is no explosions occurring at all, which I have taken as either a lack of gasoline or a lack of spark. As much as we have played with this car, we should have had significant gasoline smell by now, and we don't. We have also gotten spark off of a plug and did some testing of all of the plug wires and are definitely getting current... that leads us back to fuel... I think.

[Arnoldtheskier]

You've said a couple times you were getting gas.."on plugs/smelled".AND spark.I'ldno..either you're getting gas or you're not??..IF you are NOT..THEN you simply squirt a little gas in the t.body/or down the plug hole.IF you still think that the problem is either gas or spark..do you have spark or not??..(you said you were getting spark..??)you now have the gas.IF everything else is ok..a few cranks..and AS SOON as the gas is sufficently atomized(mixed) with air..a "rough" fuel/air mixture..it WILL react somehow..pop..fire..somthing..PROVIDED everything else is ok."Weak" spark is such a rare thing(with modern ignition)((because there is so much voltage available anyway)) PLUS by the way they are designed now..they either work or they don't.You said you had the timing cover off.I am assuming you checked the cam timing and it was ok?? Then if you've got gas,spark..the compression and vaccuum I mentioned..then I'd be looking at igntion timing..crank trigger.

[nditech]

Originally Posted by Arnoldtheskier

You've said a couple times you were getting gas.."on plugs/smelled".AND spark.I'ldno..either you're getting gas or you're not??..IF you are NOT..THEN you simply squirt a little gas in the t.body/or down the plug hole.IF you still think that the problem is either gas or spark..do you have spark or not??..(you said you were getting spark..??)you now have the gas.IF everything else is ok..a few cranks..and AS SOON as the gas is sufficently atomized(mixed) with air..a "rough" fuel/air mixture..it WILL react somehow..pop..fire..somthing..PROVIDED everything else is ok."Weak" spark is such a rare thing(with modern ignition)((because there is so much voltage available anyway)) PLUS by the way they are designed now..they either work or they don't.You said you had the timing cover off.I am assuming you checked the cam timing and it was ok?? Then if you've got gas,spark..the compression and vaccuum I mentioned..then I'd be looking at igntion timing..crank trigger.

I would have to agree with all the above. Double check that timing after talk to my ford mech. he said it only takes it to be off 1 tooth on these escorts to make them not start. He said it gets paid 2hrs of work to fix a slipped timing belt that seems to be the problem pretty often. I know I have read about that in a few posts on this board. To make sure the timing is dead on you are going to have to remove that inner wheel well skirt and wheel. When I rebuilt mine I had it easy since I could see the top of the pistons.

According to my manual it says the measured resistance should be a 12-16 ohms at 68 degrees F and 20degrees C

It also says if it is in specs to use a noid light to check the injector pulse from the PCM (POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE) while cranking the engine.

If injector pulse is present check for proper fuel pressure.

That is basically all for the injector trouble shooting other then the directions on how to use a multimeter.

[ILSteve]

Originally Posted by Arnoldtheskier

You've said a couple times you were getting gas.."on plugs/smelled".AND spark.I'ldno..either you're getting gas or you're not??..IF you are NOT..THEN you simply squirt a little gas in the t.body/or down the plug hole.IF you still think that the problem is either gas or spark..do you have spark or not??..(you said you were getting spark..??)you now have the gas.IF everything else is ok..a few cranks..and AS SOON as the gas is sufficently atomized(mixed) with air..a "rough" fuel/air mixture..it WILL react somehow..pop..fire..somthing..PROVIDED everything else is ok.

Initially I thought we were getting gas into the cylander, but then I realized that, with the number of times we've done testing the cylander should have STUNK of gas, which it wasn't.

[Jet-Lee]

This is going to be something ridiculously simple, just watch....I dunno what, but it will....

[Snow93]

lol.. thats how it goes jet-lee.. do all this work, and suddenly.. oh somethin real damn simple..

[Jet-Lee]

for me it was plug wires....4 pages, and it was plug wires.....

[Snow93]

lol now that sucks...